Gaseous electric discharge device



y 1936- P; SCHOUWSTRA 4 2,042,162

GASEOUS ELECTRIC DISCHARGE DEVICE Filed Jan. 27, 1933 INVENTOR I ATTORNEY Patented May 26; 1936 UNITED STATES GASEOUS ELECTRIC DISCHARGE DEVICE Pieter Schouwstrmlindhoven. Netherlands, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application January 27, 1933, Serial No. 653,848

In Germany March 10, 1932 6 Claims.

The present invention relates to gaseous electric discharge devices generally and more particularly the invention relates to improvements in such devices in which two or more separate and independent discharge paths are provided in the container of an electric discharge lamp device.

Such devices are now known in the art in which each of the separate discharge paths have a different gaseous atmosphere therein'which emits light of a color in contrast to the color of the light emitted by the gaseous atmosphere in the other of said discharge paths when the gas fillings are excited to luminescence by the passage of an electric discharge therethrough. For example, where one discharge path has a filling of neon and the other discharge path a filling of neon and mercury the former emits a red colored light and the latter a blue colored light when said gaseous fillings are excited to luminescence. Such a device is very eifective for advertising purposes or the like when said discharge paths are luminous alternately. The device loses a great part of its effectiveness when both of said paths are luminous simultaneously as the color of the light emitted from all parts of said device is that of the red and blue mixture.

The object of the present invention is to provide a gaseous electric discharge lamp device which emits light of difierent colorfrom different parts thereof. Another object of the invention is to provide a gaseous electric discharge lamp device having two or more separate and independent gaseous discharge paths each of which emits differently colored light from different parts of the container of the device.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an electric discharge lamp device having two or more separate and independent gaseous electric discharge paths in which the light emitted by the gaseous atmosphere'in one discharge path does not mix with the light emitted by the gaseous atmosphere in another of said discharge paths. Still further objects and advantages at taching to the device will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following particular description and from the appended claims.

I have discovered that the above objects are attained where the wall of the container separating the discharge paths has a different light transmitting characteristic than the walls of the container of the lamp device.

In the drawing accompanying and forming part of this specification four embodiments of my invention are shown, but as such illustration is primarily for purposes of disclosing my invention it will be understood. of course, that numerous changes in the form and details of the device and in its use and operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departure from the broad spirit and scope of the invention. Referring to the drawing, I I v 1 Fig. 1 is a top, partly sectional view, of one embodiment of the new and novel gaseous electric discharge lamp device,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of another embodiment of the invention and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the invention.

Like numbers denote like parts in all the figures.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing the gaseous electric discharge lamp device comprises a tubular container I of light transmitting glass. Said container I has a glass wall 2 along the iongitudinal axis thereof, said wall 2 dividing said container I into two gas tight discharge paths indicated at 3 and 4. Electrode chambers 5 and 6 having electrodes 1 and 8 sealed therein respectively are provided for the discharge path indicated at 3, one at each end .thereof. Similarly, electrode chambers 9 and I0 having electrodes II and I2 sealed therein respectively are provided for the discharge path indicated at 4, one at each end thereof. The discharge path indicated at 3 has a filling of neon therein at a pressure of 10 mm., for example, and the' discharge path indicated at 4 has a filling of neon, argon and mercury vapor.

When a suitable current is applied across the respective pairs of electrodes 1 and 8, II and I2, the gaseous fillings in said discharge paths are excited to luminescence by the electric discharge between said electrodes 1 and 8, II and I2 respectively. The color of the light emitted by the neon gas in the discharge path indicated at 3 is red while the color of the light emitted by the neon, argon and mercury mixture in the discharge path indicated at l is blue. When the gases in said discharge paths are excited to luminescence simultaneously the wall 2, being of light opaque material, prevents the light from one gaseous fllling from mixing with the light from the other gaseous filling so that the container I has a different color on each side of said wall 2. An electric discharge lamp device of such structure presents a very unusual appearance and is of special value for advertising purposes.

In another embodiment of my invention the wall 2 while having a difierent light transmitting characteristic from the walls of said container I is not of light opaque material. Said wall 2 is a yellow glass filter, for example. When the neon, helium, and mercury vapor mixture in the discharge path indicated at 4 is excited to luminescence by the passage of the electric discharge therethrough the electric discharge lamp device appears to be of a blue color when viewed in the direction indicated by arrow 1. When viewed from the opposite direction, that is, the direction indicated by the arrow 8 the lamp device appears to be green. When the neon gas in the discharge path indicated at 3 is excited to luminescence the lamp device appears to be red when viewed in the direction indicated by arrow 8 and yellowishred when viewed from the direction indicated by arrow I. When the gas fillings in each of said gaseous discharge paths indicated at 3 and l are excited to luminescence simultaneously the lamp device appears to be of a blue color having a yellowish-red tinge when viewed from the direction indicated by arrow 1 and of a red color having greenish tinge when viewed from the direction indicated by arrow 8. When the two gaseous electric discharges are operating simultaneously in said container I the lamp device appears to be red on one side and blue on the other when viewed from the direction indicated by arrow 9.

When desired, the dividing wall 2 of the electric discharge lamp device having the above structures is twisted, as shown in Fig. 3, and current is applied to said pairs of electrodes 1 and 8, II and I2 alternately and/or simultaneously in sequence, controlled by the usual switches operated by a clock-work mechanism, for example, which gives the electric discharge lamp device a very unusual appearance of great value for advertising purposes, or the like.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4 is the same as those illustrated by Figs. 1, 2, and 3 except that in this embodiment the walls of the container as well as the dividing wall 2 have different light transmitting characteristics. For example, the part It of the container is a yellow filter, the part I5 is of clear glass and the wall 2 is opaque. The part I I then appears green and the part I5 red when the gases in the discharge paths indicated at 3 and 4 are excited to luminescence. Where the lamp device of Fig. 4 has a twisted wall 2, as in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3, the parts I4 and I5 are in the same position relative to the fiat sides of said wall 2 so that the container I appears to consist of twisted bands, alternate bands being of a difl'erent color. The lamp device illustrated in Fig. 4 is operated in the same manner as those illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and parts I4, I5, and 2 are colored as desired. It will be understood, of course, that a brown filter is used, with like effect, when desired, in place of the yellow filter in the above structures.

The above described electric discharge lamp devices are used in the same manner that the usual tubular lamp devices are used, for example, to frame an object or to form a. letter in a sign.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:'

1. An electric discharge lamp device comprising a tubular container having longitudinal passageways therein, each of said passageways having a different longitudinal axis than the other of said passageways, electrodes sealed in each oi said passageways, a gaseous filling in each of said passageways, the gaseous filling in each 01' said passageways having a different light emitting characteristic than the gaseous filling in the other of said passageways, the wall of said container dividing said passageways having a different light transmitting characteristic than the other walls of said container.

2. An electric discharge lamp device comprising a tubular container having longitudinal passageways therein, electrodes sealed in each 01' said passageways, a gaseous filling in each of said passageways, the gaseous filling in each of said passageways having a different light emitting characteristic than the gaseous filling in the other of said passageways, a fiat wall in said container dividing said passageways, the walls of said container opposite the fiat sides of the wall dividing said passageways having different light transmitting characteristics, said dividing wall being opaque.

3. An electric discharge lamp device comprising a tubular container having longitudinal passageways therein, electrodes sealed in each of said passageways, a gaseous filling in each of said passageways, the gaseous filling in each of said passageways having a difierent light emitting characteristic than the gaseous filling in the other of said passageways, a fiat wall in said container dividing said passageways, the walls of said con- .tainer opposite the fiat sides of the wall dividing said passageways having different light transmitting characteristics and the wall dividing said passageways having a difi'erent light transmitting characteristic than the other parts of said container.

4. An electric discharge lamp device comprising a tubular container having longitudinal passageways therein, electrodes sealed in each of said passageways, a gaseous filling in each of said passageways, the gaseous filling in each of said passageways having a different light emitting characteristic than the gaseous filling in the other of said passageways, the wall of said container dividing said passageways having a diflerent light transmitting characteristic than the other walls of said container, said wall being twisted in said container.

5. An electric discharge lamp device comprising a tubular container having longitudinal passageways therein, each of said passageways having a different longitudinal axis than the other of said passageways, electrodes sealed in each of said passageways, a gaseous filling in each of said passageways, the gaseous filling in each of said passageways having a difierent light emitting characteristics than the gaseous filling in the other of said passageways, the wall of said container dividing said passageways being opaque.

6. An electric discharge lamp device comprising a tubular container, a wall along the longitudinal axis of said container dividing said container into gas tight sections, electrodes sealed into each of said sections, a gaseous filling in each of said sections, the gaseous filling in each of said sections having a different light emitting characteristic than the gaseous filling in the other of said sections, said dividing wall being opaque.

PIETER SCHOUWSTRA. 

